Mélodie Lesueur takes French title
20 year-old stops Longo-Ciprelli taking another championship double




20 year-old Mélodie Lesueur won the women's French national road race title with a solo attack that left surprised her rivals and stopped Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli taking another time trial and road race double.
Lesueur attacked mid-race with Nadia Triquet-Claude of the strong Vienne-Futuroscope team, blocking the chase behind. But Lesueur then dropped Triquet-Claude on the rolling hills and soloed to victory.
Amélie Rivat (Rhône-Alpes), also just 20, finished 1:55 behind Lesueur, with Longo-Ciprelli taking the bunch sprint for third. At 51, Longo-Ciprelli is older than the two young riders put together.
"At first I thought about waiting for Nadia but I decided to focus on my race. On the last two laps I had cramp everywhere," Lesueur told l'Equipe.fr.
"The opportunists won today," Longo-Ciprelli said, admitting that the bunch an big names of French cycling failed to organise their chase soon enough.
1 | Mélodie Lesueur (Esgl93-Gsdgestion) | 3:07:08 |
2 | Amélie Rivat (Rhonealpes) | 0:01:56 |
3 | Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (Rhonealpes) | 0:03:59 |
4 | Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Viennefuturoscope) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | Edwige Pitel (S.Cmichelafaninirecordrox) | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Audrey Cordon (Viennefuturoscope) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Sophie Creux (Esgl93-Gsdgestion) | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Eugénie Mermillod (Esgl93-Gsdgestion) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Béatrice Thomas (Esgl93-Gsdgestion) | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
10 | Mélanie Bravard (Esgl93-Gsdgestion) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Emilie Blanquefort (Aquitaine) | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Marion Azam (Midipyrenees) | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | Julie Krasniak ((Lorraine) | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
14 | Aude Biannic (Bretagne) | 0:06:13 |
15 | Mélanie Ferrand (Rhonealpes) | 0:06:29 |
16 | Vicky Fournial (Lorraine) | 0:06:33 |
17 | Pascale Jeuland (Viennefuturoscope) | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Nadia Triquetclaude (Viennefuturoscope) | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Elodie Hegoburu (Esgl93-Gsdgestion) | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Marielaure Cloarec (Iledefrance) | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
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Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
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